The Offspring looks back as 'Days Go By'

When the album was released in 1992 on Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz's Epitaph label, two years before the Offspring's third album, Smash, would break them big into the mainstream, the band hosted a release party at long-gone Goodies, near Cal State Fullerton (now a Latin nightclub). Less than 50 people showed up, Holland recalls.

“I don't know where these people were 20 years ago,” he jokes about the amount of fans who vied for tickets to hear the same album at Alex's Bar. “It's a good feeling now because we were always very proud of that record, but it just didn't quite get that level of attention. It was nice to go back and kind of have fun with that piece of music and that period of time, I guess.”

Still Rocking Out ... with Rock

Once again this new collection finds the Offspring emerging from studio time with producer Bob Rock, famous for his work with bands like Metallica, Aerosmith and Bush – and who also produced Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. Between the band's own studio in Huntington Beach and Rock's place in Maui, it took about two years to write and record. Noodles says much of the writing this time took place in front of the microphones, yet they spent a great deal of time in post-production evaluating each track and make changes as necessary.

Working with Rock again, he says, was a great experience: “We really hit it off the last time. A lot of people were worried that he was going to, like, turn is into Metallica or Mötley Crüe. Even we were a little worried because that's what we knew him mostly for. Once we sat down and talked with him … I mean, he's worked with D.O.A. up in Canada and he worked with the Avengers, so he's worked with a lot of punk bands as well.

“We just clicked with him and he's a super nice guy, very patient with us. But at the same time, if we're not on point, he'll call us out on it. He's just so into it – when we get something happening and we know something is happening with the recordings, he was just as excited as the rest of us.”

In May, the band filmed music videos for “Days Go By,” unveiled June 1 on its website, and then “Cruising California,” which debuted a week later.

“'Days Go By' is a little more shrouded in mystery,” Noodles explains. “We're doing a performance and in the background they're flashing different scenes from the desert and driving around and showing time going by. With ‘Cruising California,' it's a lot of party stuff – we're driving around on a bus, picking up people on PCH. It's done by Mickey Finnegan, the director who did LMFAO's ‘Sexy and I Know It.'

“You have to do a video like that with a song like that. It's just a silly, don't-think-too-much, have-some-fun kinda thing. You know, we love the Dead Kennedys and T.S.O.L. but we also loved the Vandals and the Dickies growing up, stuff that made us laugh. You can't take yourself too seriously in this, and I think my favorite bands really didn't.”

From the Janitor's Closet to the Stage

Holland thinks back to the early days of the Offspring: “I'm sure you know the story … I was in high school, Noodles was a janitor, Greg worked at a blueprint shop …the idea that we're all here is just incredible, but to still be here now is just amazing. We keep on doing music because it's what we love. On one hand, we did work hard and try to make great music, but on the other hand, we still consider ourselves very lucky.”

He remembers, back in the early ‘80s, reassuring himself that becoming a heavy rock band would not be a good idea. “I said: ‘It looks huge right now, but look out.'” Metal just wasn't for the Offspring. At the time the guys wanted to be like their local heroes: Social Distortion, T.S.O.L., Adolescents. They aspired to one day, hopefully, be as big as D.I.

They've since surpassed the commercial success of all those forebears combined, yet back then Noodles was so unsure about a full-time career in music that when he finally left his day job sweeping floors at Warren Elementary School in Garden Grove, he didn't fully quit – just took a leave of absence.

“I was still a janitor when the video for ‘Come Out and Play' was in heavy rotation on MTV,” he recalls. “Here I am sweeping up in the morning and kids are walking through the school to get to the high school from the bus stop, and they're like, ‘Aren't you that guy?'

"The day that O.J. (Simpson) was doing that car chase was one of my last days at school and the teachers took me out for drinks. I remember like three years after that, I was like OK, if I have to go back and be a janitor, I'd have to start at the bottom of the janitorial rung.”

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